Monday 4 April 2011

Magpie Monday - Two of My Favourite Things

Me and My Shadow

I've found some fabulous things in Charity Shops over the years, however, the pleasure of seeking them out tends to be greater than the pleasure of actual ownership. Often, prized items will be absorbed into the general blur of homelife and their origins all but forgotten. There are, of course, always exceptions to the rule. Some purchases refuse to fade into the background. This post is to acknowledge two such items.

The first item is a child's book. It cost me 49p and I bought it with several others that looked as though they had been donated by the same person. They were all in excellent condition and I knew my daughter would make good use of them.

Little did I know that this particular book would capture the imagination of my daughter in the way that it has. The book is called 'You Choose' by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart. Each page is packed with detailed illustrations from which the reader is invited to choose such things as places to visit, homes to live in, modes of transport, food, clothes, pets, careers, leisure activities, even which bed to sleep in.


Working through this book has become an important part of my daughter's bedtime routine. Her vocabulary has improved dramatically as we talk together about her choices and it has offered some great insights into the world of her imagination.

Her favourite page gives the opportunity to choose friends and family from a portrait gallery. She loves to find the images that correspond most closely to the important people in her life and has an uncanny knack of picking good likenesses. The image she chose for mummy and daddy made me smile. I love that she sees me as youthful and glamorous.


However, if I am to feel quietly smug about that, I can't ignore that sometimes she picks this one for me too.


We all have bad days!

My second item is another one I bought for my daughter. I think the reason that this one refuses to sit quietly with other similar items is because I came so close to not buying it.

I had recently been on a visit to my mum's where I bought a lot of china at the amazing price of 5 items for £1. When I later found a child's plate in my local Oxfam for 99p, it seemed expensive. I let the experience of my earlier purchases cloud my judgment.

I have to remind myself that each charity shop purchase has to be judged on its own merit. Trying to assess value and worth against the asking price in the limited time you have to make the decision to buy or not to buy can be tricky. I am very glad that I threw caution to the wind and parted with my 99p to become the owner of this lovely La Chaise Longue china plate.


I absolutely adore it and can't believe I ever hesitated.

12 comments:

  1. Most of my little man's books and toys have coome from charity shops, not to mention a whole pile of videos that set us back about 10p each! That book looks brilliant :)

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  2. That plate is so stunning. Hesitating indeed -you're lucky I wasn't stading next to you! You snooze you lose!!

    The book sounds amazing too, I'm going to seek that out. Love how it has inspired your daughter.

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  3. Oooh my daughter is a big fan of Nick Sharratt's illustrations. Love the plate.

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  4. Those two books you bought for Adrian look really great and it sounds as though she is enjoying the experience of learning from them. Likewise, what a lovely plate you managed to find.

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  5. lovely finds, that book has been a big favourite of both my youngest children... in fact our copy has sadly now been loved too much :)

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  6. That looks like a sweet book, and where does your mum live so that I can stalk the local charity shop?! 99p for the animal plate was well spent, although I can see how 5 pieces for a pound might have coloured your judgement a little!

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  7. I love how kids latch onto a certain book - makes the book so special, doesn't it?

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  8. Will have to remember this book when my son is a bit older. I constantly buying him board books from the charity as they are so cheap plus im getting together a great collection of Ladybird books for when he's older. The plate is great :o) Scarlett x

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  9. I love the plate, we're big fans of giraffes :)

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  10. What a pair of finds! The book looks lovely, will keep my eye out for it. Mentioned you in a recent post by the way: http://www.manana-mama.com/2011/04/smells-like-bad-music.html
    ~M

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  11. 'You choose' is an absolute favourite in our house. It can take ages to 'read' with 4 kids all wanting to have a go though!

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  12. The book looks really fun, and that plate oh it's so pretty x

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